Polaris (α UMi / α Ursae Minoris / Alpha Ursae Minoris) is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole (42′ away as of 2006), making it the current northern pole star.
Name ...
Polaris
Related Category: Astronomy: Stars
(plâr´s) or North Star, star nearest the north celestial pole (see equatorial coordinate system).
POLARIS
"pole star"
Other Names
Alruccabah; Cynosura; Phoenice; Lodestar; Pole Star; Tramontana; Angel Stern; Navigatoria; Star of Arcady; Yilduz; Mismar.
Alpha Ursae Minoris
HR 424
HD 8890 ...
The Polaris System
Polaris A has at least two companions. The brighter of the two, Polaris B, is a yellowish F3V main sequence star of Visual Magnitude 8.20 having a luminosity about 8 times that of the sun.
POLARIS (Alpha Ursae Minoris). Not seasonal, always there in the northern nighttime sky, Polaris, the North Star, marks the North Celestial Pole.
Aurora Polaris
From LoveToKnow 1911
AURORA POLARIS (Aurora Borealis and Australis, Polar Light, Northern Lights), a natural phenomenon which occurs in many forms, some of great beauty.
Polaris is a known Cepheid variable star with a period of 4 days, however, during the last decade, the amplitude of its brightening and fading has decreased precipitously to less than 0.1 magnitude as compared to the 1.
polarised light: light in which the electromagnetic waves have a single plane of vibration in a direction perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
Polaris - the North Star
Artist's concept of the Polaris triple star system
Click on image for star map
NASA, ESA, G. Bacon (STScI) ...
Polarissima Borealis (NGC3172) Galaxy in Ursa Minor
(RA 11h 50.2m , Dec. +89°07', 13.6 mag., 0.7 x 0.7 arcmin.) ...
Polaris, the Pole Star
By pure chance, a moderately bright star is seen near the northern celestial pole--Polaris, the pole star (or north star).
Polaris
The star nearest the north celestial pole, also known as the North Star. It is a common misconception that the North Star is the brightest in the sky.
Polaris
(a) The North Star, a second-magnitude star in the constellation Ursa Minor. The star is a yellow-white F-type supergiant that lies 330 light-years away.
POLARIS
Polaris (alpha UMi) is the current pole star for the Northern Hemisphere; it is 1 degree from the exact Northern celestial pole. In 1780, discovered that Polaris was a double star with a faint companion star.
Polaris - The North Star
Nick Greene
Definition: star: A ball of mostly hydrogen and helium gas that shines extremely brightly. Our Sun is a star. A star is so massive that its core is extremely dense and hot.
Polaris, the north star, is a triple star system in which the closer companion star is extremely close to the main star— ...
Polaris Australis (Sigma Oct)
Octans was named by Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Octans is the constellation which contains the South Celestial Pole. Unlike Ursa Minor's Polaris, there is no bright star near the South Pole.
Polaris has a visual magnitude of 1.97 (second magnitude). In 3000 BC the faint star Thuban in the constellation Draco was the North Star. At magnitude 3.67 (fourth magnitude) it is only one-fifth as bright as Polaris.
Polaris became a symbol of freedom to slaves as well as a guide star for those who would flee north. Children were taught to identify Polaris by finding the Big Dipper.
Polaris is today's north star. It was in the wrong position 4,500 years ago to help the pyramid builders.
Polaris
2.0
These magnitudes are referred to as the object's Apparent Magnitude (and that's what the m stands for).
Polaris always has an azimuth of zero (0o) - or pretty darn close. That's because Polaris is always due north (or pretty darn close).
Your meridian always runs along the zero and 180 degree azimuth bearings.
Polaris
Deneb
Antares
Spica
8. An astronomer announces a newly discovered star is moving away from us at 100 km/sec. How is this deterimined?
Polaris (now determined to be a variable star)
+3.0 Faintest stars visible in an urban neighborhood
+6.0 Faintest stars observable with naked eye under dark skies
+9 Faintest stars visible in 10x50 binoculars ...
Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris)
Beta Ursae Minor
Vela (Velorum)
Virgo (Virgini) ...
Polaris or Alpha Ursa Minoris (α UMi), the north star, is a triple star system in which the closer companion star is extremely close to the main star-so close that it was only known from its gravitational tug on Polaris A (α UMi A) until it was ...
Polaris. [C95]
Northern Cross
A group of bright stars in the constellation Cygnus. [H76] ...
* A Polaris missile of the advanced A-2 design was fired from Cape Canaveral 1,600 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. It was the third success in as many firings for the new Polaris designed to operate at a range over 1,700 miles (1961).
When Polaris will be the north star again around 27800 AD, due to its proper motion it will be farther away from the pole then than it is now, while in 23600 BC it came closer to the pole.
Info: Polaris, the brightest star of Ursa Minor, is the North Star or Pole Star, the star closest to the north celestial pole.
Vela (Sails, formerly Argo Navis)
No Saint given ...
Viewing Polaris will always let you know which way is north. At the north celestial pole, Polaris will be almost directly overhead so it's also known as the Pole star.
Trivia: Polaris is a variable star, but pretty soon it might not be! It's a Cepheid variable, but the amplitude of its light variations is declining and some astronomers think it might stop pulsating altogether.
Southern Cross
Ursa Minor ...
polariscope (NASA Thesaurus / NASA SP-7, 1965) An instrument for detecting polarized radiation and investigating its properties.
The position of Polaris relative to the ground depends on the latitude of the observer. For example, for people in Hong Kong, Polaris will be about 22.4° above the ground due north.
The North Star, Polaris, is a well known star in many cultures. It is one of the navigational stars, used for orientation at sea because of its brightness and location in the sky.
Thus, Polaris will not always be the Pole Star or North Star. The Earth's rotation axis happens to be pointing almost exactly at Polaris now, but in 13, ...
It circles the polestar (Polaris) throughout the year and also straddles the Milky Way. The five major stars of Cassiopeia (also known as "The Lady of the Chair") are shaped like a "W" (or an "M," depending on your orientation).
If you joined Santa last Christmas at the north pole (90 degrees latitude), you would have seen Polaris straight overhead and the celestial equator on your horizon.
Polaris indicates the direction"due north"in which Earth's rotation axis points.
It is always best to find Polaris in order to determine the direction of true north, for compasses point to Earth's magnetic north, which is not the same as true north.
fixed error on Neutron/Pulsar star page claiming that Polaris was a neutron star
changed wording in Feedback Form from "tell us where you are from" to "tell us where you live"
added article about a pulsar streaming through space to Current Events ...
axis towards Polaris. Choose a bright star within 10 to 20 degrees of the equator lying near the meridian. Now align your crosshairs west and east.
The Pole Star alpha UMi, commonly called Polaris, is a Cepheid variable star. Within a period of 4 days the brightness varies between 2.1 mag and 2.2 mag.
So now you can see why Polaris will not always be aligned with the north spin axis of the Earth - because that axis is slowly changing the direction in which it points! ...
If you have difficulty finding south, use the Big Dipper to locate Polaris, the north star. Anytime during the night, all you have to do is to turn about-face of Polaris -- and presto, that's south.
Gravitational waves are polarised and their direct detection remains one of the Holy Grails of physics.
An artist's concept shows the triple-star system known as Polaris, the North Star. The largest star at bottom is the one that is visible to our eyes alone. A fairly small star at top, known as Polaris B, is visible through most telescopes.
Within the constellation of Ursa Minor can be found the North Star, Polaris. By following a line from the two stars in the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper, Polaris can easily be found.
At the end of the Little Bear's tail (or the dipper's handle) is the star Alpha Ursae Minoris, commonly known by the Latin name Polaris because it is the nearest bright star to the north celestial pole.
The axis of Mars does not point toward Polaris, our North Star, but is displaced about 40° towards Alpha Cygni.
You can find the Square of Pegasus by following the line from the pointers of the Big Dipper through Polaris and then twice as far on Polaris' other side. One of the stars (Alpheratz) is actually now over the boundary into the constellation Andromeda.
Polaris Alpha Ursae Minoris
Polaris Australis Sigma Octantis
Pollux Beta Geminorum
Porrima Gamma Virginis
Praecipua 46 Leonis Minoris
Procyon Alpha Canis Minoris
Propus Eta Geminorum
Proxima Centauri Alpha Centauri C
Pulcherrima Epsilon Boötis ...
Today, the north celestial pole points to within just 1 of the arc of Polaris. It will point closest to Polaris in AD 2017. In 12,000 years the north celestial pole will point about 5 from Vega.
It lies in the east central part (23:39:20.8+77:37:56.2, ICRS 2000.0) of Constellation Cepheus, the King and father of Andromeda -- southeast of Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minorus), northeast of Pi Cephei, Alfirk (Beta Cephei), Alderamin (Alpha Cephei), ...
The North Star is current Polaris (right ascension , declination ) since it is closest to the north celestial pole. However, due to precession of the equinoxes, the pole rotates through the sky with a period of about 26,000 years.
In the northern hemisphere for example, simply measuring the height of the star Polaris above the horizon results in a fairly close approximation of one's latitude.
1) Mechanically align scope to Polaris in polar mode.
2) With scope running, sync on a known star near zero declination and near the meridian.
[6.3] ATLAS IN TEST / SCORE / POLARIS IN TEST
[6.4] THE ARGUS SPACE NUCLEAR TESTS
[6.5] SOVIET ICBMS ENTER SERVICE ...
At the moment the axis points (within 1 degree) towards the star Polaris. 5,000 years ago it pointed at the star Thuban in the constellation Draco. In 14,000 AD, the "pole" star will be Vega in Lyra.
Alifa al Farkadain (ζ UMi), Kochab (β UMi), Pherkad (γ UMi), Polaris (Pole Star, α UMi), Yildun (δUMi).
Constellations adjoining Ursa Minor: Camelopardalis, Cepheus, Draco.
 See also: Star, Earth, Sky, Sun, Light
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